The present invention is directed to a trailer which is foldable upon itself for storage, and in particular, a collapsible trailer capable of supporting great weights such as motorcycles and jet skis.
Collapsible trailers are known in the art and are formed with a platform having a front portion and a rear portion. The back portion is pivotably coupled to the front platform portion so that the platform may fold upon itself. Each platform is mounted on a subframe which in turn is mounted through a leaf spring to an axle supported between the wheels. The subframe includes a flange forming an underhang extending from the front platform portion to beyond the pivot point of the back platform so that when the trailer is in the open position, i.e., the back platform portion is rotated away from the front platform portion, the underhang acts as a rotation stop and provides support for the back platform portion. Rails are provided on the front platform portion and back platform portion which when in the open position form a continuous channel for receiving motorcycle wheels to maintain the motorcycle in place.
The prior art collapsible trailers have been satisfactory. However, they suffer from several disadvantages. First, because the back platform portion is supported by a short flange of the subframe, the support in the trailer resides in the middle of the trailer, not at the far ends of the unfolded platforms so that when a large load such as a motorcycle is provided at the end of the back platform portion when loading, the flange rather than stopping the rotation of the back platform portion becomes a pivot for further rotation and the back platform portion breaks or shears from the subframe and front platform portion. Extending the underhang to provide greater support requires an inordinate amount of material such as steel tubing, adding weight to the trailer making the trailer difficult to tow and maneuver and making the entire trailer fuel inefficient. Secondly, by utilizing a leaf spring arrangement for the wheel support requires additional bars affixed to the subframe to provide connection points for the leaf spring, adding weight to the trailer. Additionally, because all of the support for the front platform and back platform is provided at the center of the open platform, and there is no support at the extreme ends of the open platform, the platform is formed as a square with a substantially solid bedding below the rails further increasing the trailer's weight and moving the weight of the folded trailer away from the center towards the top of the trailer making the trailer extremely difficult to place in an upright position for storage. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a collapsible trailer providing support near the back and front of the open trailer while utilizing less material for lighter weight, ease of manufacture and fuel efficiency.